Enabling the Bluetooth in the Raspberry Pi using Python

In this post I will discuss about using the Bluetooth in the Raspberry Pi. As it is known that the Raspberry Pi has on board Bluetooth module which makes it very effective in various applications in which we need the integrated Bluetooth module. Before using the Bluetooth module in the Raspberry Pi we need configure the Raspberry Pi to work with the Bluetooth.
This post will be oriented around how to enable or configure the Bluetooth in the Raspberry Pi. After reading this post you will have the knowledge of some of the commands that are needed to enable or configure the Raspberry Pi for Bluetooth applications. In addition I will also discuss some of the common applications for the Bluetooth technology and common type wireless technologies that are commercially available.

Bluetooth and the Raspberry Pi:

The Raspberry Pi has on board Bluetooth which needs to be configures before use. Bluetooth is one of the most common wireless communication technologies. Wireless communication is the transmission of information or data over the large distances without the need of any wire or cable. There are a number technologies available that are used for wireless communication, these technologies are characterized on the basis of the spectrum which they use for carrying information and also the protocol they use for transmission of information wirelessly. Each of the wireless technology has their particular applications and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The list of some the common wireless technologies are given below:

Bluetooth.

Wi Fi

Zigbee.

Wi Max and many more.

Here we are considering only the Bluetooth wireless communication technology. However in addition to the Bluetooth module the Raspberry Pi also has the Wi Fi communication on board. Bluetooth is typically meant for exchanging the data wirelessly for short distances and it uses the frequencies around 2500MHz. The Bluetooth enabled devices communicate in Ad HOC mode with each device capable of connecting to the seven other devices. In the Ad Hoc mode one of the Bluetooth devices acts as the master device and the other as a slave however the role of the devices can be interchanged.

Applications of the Bluetooth Technology:

The Bluetooth technology enjoys the wide use of it in various commercial and end user applications. Some of the common applications which use the Bluetooth technology for wireless communication are listed below:

Bluetooth hands-free.

Bluetooth wireless speakers.

Bluetooth in smart phones.

Bluetooth used for home automation systems.

Bluetooth enabled mouse, keyboard etc.

This list is presented to show the importance of having the knowledge of this wireless technology. With Bluetooth technology integrated in the Raspberry Pi we can add the wireless functionality in our projects and can make a lot of useful applications out of it. For example you can build your own Bluetooth enabled wireless speakers, home automation system based on Bluetooth, Remote controlled gadgets and robots using Bluetooth. These are just a few of the feats you can perform using the Raspberry Pi Bluetooth.
Before making use of the Bluetooth in our Projects, it is important to know how to enable the Bluetooth in the Raspberry Pi. In the following sections I will discuss the procedure for enabling the Bluetooth in the Raspberry Pi.

Enabling the Bluetooth in the Raspberry Pi:

Enabling the Bluetooth in the Raspberry Pi is quite easy you need just to follow some of the steps and type some of the simple commands in the terminal window of the Raspberry Pi. Let us begin:

Step1:

Open the terminal window in the Raspberry Pi.

Step2:

Now after you have the terminal window type the following command in the terminal window or console.
Bluetoothctl

Step3:

Now enter the following command in the terminal window:
agent on

Step4:

Now type the following command in the terminal window:
default-agent

Step5:

After this scan for all the available Bluetooth devices near you Raspberry Pi. This can be done by typing the following simple command in the terminal window:
scan on
After the execution of this command you will see the MAC addresses of all the Bluetooth devices near your Raspberry Pi.

Step6:

Now it is the time to connect to one of the available Bluetooth devices. You can pair up with the Bluetooth devices by typing the following command in the terminal window of the Raspberry Pi.
pair xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
The xes represent the MAC address of the device you want to connect to your Raspberry Pi. You can type the MAC address of your Bluetooth device here.
So these are the steps for enabling the Bluetooth in the Raspberry Pi and connecting the Bluetooth device to the Raspberry Pi. This is quite straightforward.

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Author: admin

I am Kashif Mirza, the founder of ProjectIOT123. I am an Embedded Engineer and working on Embedded Projects since 2003. I have worked on Arduino, Raspberry Pi, PIc Microcontroller, 8051 etc. and have designed both prototypes & industrial projects.